Driveline Clunk/Click

Here’s one for your guys:


2018 Crewmax 4x4 has a clunk/click in the driveline when giving it gas after coasting off throttle for a few seconds, around 20 mph.

Search function reveals this is more of a first gen/early second gen issue with the slip joint, but it doesn’t seem common with the 2.5 gens. Talked to the shop foreman at one of the dealers here and he said he doesn’t really see that with our trucks. Thoughts? My driveline does seem like there’s maybe a lot of lash in the diff gears, but I’m not sure what’s normal. I’m the original owner, truck has just over 70k miles. I think it’s been doing this a while but I normally don’t notice it because the windows are up and the radio is blasting. I did have my diffs serviced around 60k by the dealership.

 

Mine has done it since new. Got 82k miles now. It doesn't like stop and go or I should say slow and go on interstates just like what your saying. It doesn't show up with other driving like high speeds. Back roads, normal stop and go from traffic lights.

There have been a bunch of other threads nobody ever reposts a fix. I'm not worried about mine breaking. It is just annoying but mine has done it since new.

 

Thanks for the reply. I spoke to the shop foreman at my local dealership and he said he hasn't heard of that issue with my gen of Tundra and to bring it in for a ride along so he could hear it. Not even sure if its worth my time.

 

Every vehicle with a driveshaft I've ever driven does this. The fix is your foot. If you suddenly step on it, it happens everytime. If I apply steady even pressure, like feather it in, I never hear it.
Hard to explain, it's almost like a rev matching in a process sense but not as pronounced.

 

If you have zerk fittings in your driveline and ujoints- lube them. Though I think the 2018s went with unserviceable drive shafts? Might also check carrier bearing condition.

But 25-30 is around a shift point, so yes there can be some driveline slack at times that will cause a shift that feels hard or clunks around those speeds at low to part throttle.

 

18+ doesn’t have zerks. Carrier bearing is good, and the u-joints all appear tight.

If the consensus is they just do that, I’m going to let it ride.

 

Mine just feels like play in the rear end. It's Been annoying but the same since it was new.

I tried going to dealer but they just replaced both rear bearing, witch had nothing to do with anything with the play in rear end. I even told them it's not the rear bearing it's the rear end. And made no difference.

 

When you say rear bearing, do you mean the carrier bearing or…?

 

No the dealer replaced the rear hub/wheel bearings. Sorry I should have gave more information. That's why I was upset with them it was a waste of time cause a wheelbearing doesn't cause a clunk.

 

That’s unbelievably dumb. I shouldn’t be surprised though. The dealership can be very hit or miss. Play in the ring and pinion seems like the most probable cause to me, but what do I know?

 

Yea its been like 50,000 miles since I took it to the dealer. Honestly i kinda think it's just normal. I have to be going fast then slow down to 20 or 30 then get back on the gas to feel the clunk. If its not slow and go traffic I completely forget about it. It's the biggest complaint I have with the truck. My rear diff fluid has been changed twice in 82k miles. I maintain my truck well. 5k oil changes, trans fluid drained and filled 2X, new engine and cabin air filters ever 20k, new power steering fluid, and coolant drain and fill.

 

I went to a differential shop and the owner got under the truck while I was able to recreate the sound going from drive to reverse and vise versa. He confirmed it’s absolutely not the diff and thought it was coming from the driveshaft close to the carrier.

Went to a driveshaft shop and the guy got under and looked at everything. He said everything looked tight and in good shape but they could go through it with a fine tooth comb another day if I wanted.

It’s odd that several people have had this and nobody can seem to figure out what it is.

 

It's just the sounds of metal in multi piece metal components. Can't be absolutely perfect and tight for moving parts.

 

Could it be coming from the transmission. Over time parts wear and could lead to a sudden unload of power to the driveshaft. Dirty or stuck valves that don't allow the proper amount of fluid to move through when the shift points occur could lead to a harsh shifting enviroment.

 

Hard to say. The transmission shifts smoothly, never had any issues with it. Did a drain and fill on it about 10k ago. It only does it when:

1. Shifting from D>R or vise versa, but only if you let off the brake a little first inbetween. Won’t do it if you stay on the brakes.

2. Coasting then getting back on the gas at low speeds (worst around 15mph). Even very light throttle will cause it.

I have not noticed it on the freeway or any time when outside these parameters. If it’s something that’s just an annoyance and not going to cause damage over time or leave me stranded, I don’t care that much. Problem is I don’t know either way and nobody else seems to know either.

 

I'm 99.9999999990999% sure it's play in the rear end diff. Mine came from factory like this.

 

You’re probably right. Maybe this is the excuse I need for 4.88s

 

I'm going to put Amsoil gear lube in this weekend. There are guys on here that say one of the loudest V8 ever made becomes quite with amsoil engine oil. So maybe the gear oil is also made out of Magic and it will tighten up the rear differential tolerances...

 

I have a 21 that has done this since I bought it with 18k. I previously had an F-150 that did similar. Ford's fix was to grease the slip yoke.

Think you can use any general purpose grease, but I used the Motorcraft XG-8 PTFE grease. It never came back after I greased the slip yoke. I haven't tried it on my Tundra yet because the XG-8 is packed away on storage and since this isn't urgent, figured I'd wait til I got it out.

 

Did you buy a boot and band kit or just replace the bands when you put it back together?

 

I had a 1 piece driveshaft so I didn't need to worry about it.

 

Update drained rear diff and put back Amsoil 75w 85 GL5. Don't notice anything different.

On a different subject this was my first time using Amsoil in my life and the pull off tabs that even say "pull and lift" to open the packs of oil don't come off. They rip apart and then you have to stab something through the half of the seal that's still on the opening. Then you get chunks of plastic in oil.

How does one pay top dollar and trust their oil is top quality if they can't even figure out how to make a pull tab seal work?

 

https://youtu.be/kpeugaxMjKc?feature=shared

It seems like it might be coming from this u-joint or maybe the splines. If you look closely more towards the end of the video, it seems like the u-joint shifts radially but it’s hard to tell.

Pay particular attention to the 13-15 second mark.

 

Mine has done that for years now. Almost sounds like a ujoint with slack. Like a “tink” noise. I periodically check and they are like new with over 175k miles now.